Apply in the right order
WSIB's eligibility rules for the Health and Safety Excellence program require that you have not applied for or been recognized through the Supporting Ontario's Safe Employers program. Applying for SOSE closes the Excellence program to you permanently.
If the Excellence program topics are worth money to you, complete them before any SOSE application. Neither program page states this clearly on its own.
Health and Safety Excellence program
A WSIB program delivered through approved providers. You complete topics from a catalogue and earn a rebate on your premiums for each one.
How it pays
A per-topic rebate banded by the WSIB premiums you reported the previous year. At the smallest band, premiums of $1 to $50,000, it is $2,000 per topic, rising through the bands to $50,000 per topic for the largest employers.
The limits
A maximum of five topics per action plan. The total rebate per action plan is capped at 200 per cent of your previous year's reported premiums.
The extra
Schedule 1 businesses receive an additional $1,000 when a health and safety action plan is approved, and again for each new action plan. Schedule 2 businesses do not pay premiums, so they receive recognition only.
Eligibility and timing
An active WSIB account, at least one paid employee, and no SOSE application. You have 12 months to complete the topics in an approved action plan. Rebates are paid quarterly.
WSIB cites average rebates of $9,000 per year for small businesses and $40,000 for large businesses. Those are averages, not entitlements. Yours depends on your premiums and how many topics you complete. Source: wsib.ca, Health and Safety Excellence program.
Ontario Safe Employers Rebate Program
This is the one tied to COR. Employers recognized by Ontario's Chief Prevention Officer through Supporting Ontario's Safe Employers can qualify for this WSIB rebate for up to three consecutive years.
What it pays
Per year, up to three years
- Minimum $3,000 per year
- Maximum $300,000 in year one
- Maximum $200,000 in year two
- Maximum $100,000 in year three
- Capped at 100 per cent of your previous year's premiums
What it depends on
Eligibility
- Registered with an active WSIB account, and a Schedule 1 business
- Premiums and any outstanding balances paid
- Compliant with the WSIA, with no charges under the Act or the Criminal Code in the last 24 months
- No work-related fatality between CPO recognition and rebate payment
- The amount varies with your premiums, predictability rating and program year
Source: wsib.ca, Ontario Safe Employers Rebate Program. WSIB retains discretion over payment and may retract a rebate.
Where we fit
Both programs are won or lost on documentation, which is the work we already do for clients. We map the sequence, keep the evidence in order and make sure an application to one program does not forfeit the other.
We do not submit applications on your behalf and we do not promise a rebate amount. WSIB decides both.
Confirm current figures with WSIB before relying on them. Rebate bands, caps and eligibility rules change. Everything on this page was taken from WSIB's published pages, but your situation should be confirmed with WSIB directly.